Earlier this year I made the decision to leave the safe haven of New Zealand to work and travel around the world in a time that is everything but easy to make it happen. While trying to paddle my way around the world, I have decided to start a series on some of my favorite rivers that I have paddled along the way.
I started this journey in the United States of America at the end of April, and after some road-tripping adventures with my lovely girlfriend, I finally made my way to the state of Washington. I barely scraped the surface of what Washington had to offer but I will talk about two rivers in particular that I enjoyed the most! Before we start this off, if you are ever planning a kayak trip to the States www.americanwhitewater.org is the best online guide to use when trying to find information on the huge amount of rivers that the US has to offer!
The Green Truss of the White Salmon
The Green Truss is located around thirty minutes drive north of Hood River and is a class V section of the White Salmon river. The Truss runs from the early months of spring and is typically the run that people flock to in the warm summer months when most of the other runs in the area have all dropped out due to low flow from lack of snowmelt. For me the Truss was best known for one waterfall in particular. Big Brother. A super nice thirty-footer which in high water is run off the far left, with a reconnect into a plug. Or at low water run off the right with a super big and clean boof! The Truss also consists of many other smaller drops and loads of rapids that take you through a stunning gouge that was once a lava flow tube.
My experience with the Truss was during the month of May at the end of spring. While I was there I got to experience the Truss at a number of levels that were all on the good side of high. The river was constantly on the rise or drop due to the warmer weather that was starting to set in. I would be lying if I said I didn’t love it! The Truss did not disappoint and once familiar with the lines it can become a fun playground to hone in your skills and increase your fitness.
White Salmon River
Above the Truss you will find a grade IV-V section named Farmlands, consisting of a few smaller drops than the ones on the Truss. Below the Truss the river flows into a beautiful grade lll rafting run which ends with a fun little waterfall named Husum Falls. This is then followed by a chill grade ll stretch, which is then also followed by another even more scenic grade II-lll stretch which takes you through a stunning gorge with a sweet class V boof in the middle of it (that can be easily portaged). This section will take you to the mouth of the White Salmon and into the impressively big Colombia River which splits the state of Washington and Oregon apart, and is looked down upon by many impressive volcanoes that fill the area. The White Salmon is a great location that caters to the full gamut of kayaking skills. It will satisfy a solid Class V kayaker but will also be great for someone who is new to kayaking or for those who just want to improve their kayaking skills. No matter what, While Salmon has it!
Middle Icicle of Icicle Creek
Now moving onto a significantly stouter step up, the river from the Truss. Icicle Creek, located a little bit east of a town called Leavenworth. A cool but very weird town that in the 1960s was completely remodeled to a Bavarian style theme in the hopes to try and boost the town’s economy through tourism. Whether you are traveling through the US for kayaking or not, I would highly recommend giving this funny little place a visit. There is even a museum that is fully devoted to nutcrackers! Leavenworth is found around four hours drive north of White Salmon.
Anyways, back to kayaking! On Icicle Creek there are a few sections but there is one section that is an absolute standout! Middle Icicle. Middle Icicle is the class V section and drops roughly 35 m/km over a 3.5 km section. It is steep. It is stacked. It is continuous. It is fast! The flow range for this section ranges from 20 cm (low water) to 60 cm (high water). Sometimes people run the upper section giving you a nice class III-IV warm up for what’s to come downstream. However, more often people just put in at the take out of the upstream section giving you about two minutes of class II boogie to warm up on before you get the first and probably stoutest and longest rapid of the run. Yes this sets the tone for the river very very quickly! This section then passes through many more amazing and steep and technical rapids with not much time for breaks in between. This section then ends with an epic ten foot powerful boof!
Like White Salmon, Leavenworth is also a really cool spot to have on your Washington kayak stop offs because amongst all the big, hard whitewater there is also some good paddling for people of all levels. Flowing alongside the town you have the Wenatchee River which is what Icicle Creek flows into. Upstream of where the two rivers meet you would find Tumwater Canyon of the Wenatchee, which has a number of monstrous big water class V and IV rapids with a road running alongside them. If I was to talk about these rapids we would be here all day! But below where these two rivers meet and about a ten minute drive South of the town, there is a super fun big water class III play run. This section is fun no matter what level of kayaker you are. It has a number of really good surf waves that you can just sit and play on for hours and plenty of down river waves to practice your downriver freestyle. Every Wednesday evening the local community of paddlers come together for an evening of fun activities on the river. How good!
Washington as a whole is a very beautiful part of the US and I am sure that there are many more epic places that are well worth stopping at if you find yourself on a kayaking road trip through the area. But as I said earlier, I barely scratched the surface of this incredible kayaking region. I look forward to returning at the end of this year to explore what it has to offer throughout the winter and early spring time. Stay tuned for the next segment of this series as I take you to some of my favourite rivers that my time in Canada has taken me to.
